Story
Park creator Ebenezer Von Clutch is in a pickle. Recently rated as the most hazardous spot on Earth, his racing park, MotorWorld, has rapidly slipped into disrepair and decay. Ever since the theft of the park's Power Gems (and his own Black Heart Power Gem), Von Clutch has been slowly losing his ability to maintain the park. The Black Heart is Von Clutch's life source- he is, after all, a cyborg. Without its timely return, Von Clutch will cease to exist.

Outside the park, Dr. Cortex drives after Crash, Coco and Crunch. His niece Nina and his gunner N. Gin travel along with him, trying to shoot down the bandicoots' car. The two cars eventually crash at Von Clutch's MotorWorld. Von Clutch gathers everyone together and explains his situation to them. He is desperate to get back his Power Gems and the Black Heart, so he's willing to offer the deed to the amusement park itself to whoever retrieves them. It is his hope to put an end to this charade and find out the perpetrator. However, Von Clutch is playing it safe, so he'll be participating in this quest too. To better increase his odds, Von Clutch counts on the help of Pasadena Opossum, a female ace racer and a friend of his.

Delighted by the offer, Cortex accepts Von Clutch's proposal. He hopes to turn the amusement park into an evil base. Crash and the others accept the proposal as well. A series of races and treasure hunts begins right after.

Playable Characters: Crash Bandicoot/Coco Bandicoot/Cortex/Nina/N. Gin
Crunch/Pasadena Opossum/Ebenezer Von Clutch
Other Characters: Aku Aku*/Evil Crash**/Willie Wumpa Cheeks/Chick/Stew/Park Drones
* Cameo.
** Skin.

Generalities
Crash Tag Team Racing has a misleading title, quite simply because the racing is only part of the game. Though the races may be the game's showcase, there's just as much platforming to go around, all in free-roaming style (although admittedly much simpler than in Twinsanity).

When you're not burning up the track, you take control of Crash Bandicoot. Crash controls in a slightly different way than before, mostly due to the loss of some moves and the gain of others (for example, Crash can shimmy and spin endlessly now, but his slide tackle and crouching went bye bye). The basics are essentially the same, though. What really differs is the world around Crash, and not Crash himself. Being inside an amusement park, Crash has, for the first time ever, the ability to interact with both trademark characters and common people who wander around aimlessly. Crash can babble to get humourous replies from people or just attack them for fun. Don't worry, they won't attack you or call park security. They do show funny reactions, though. This applies even more when you talk to the main characters repeatedly, without having the items they want. Speaking of, Crash can engage in missions given by the main characters. These are always simplistic and mostly function the same way: you usually have to bring object A from point B to character C, and so on. Completing missions unlocks new characters, cars and turret guns. At times, you're also rewarded with cash.

Moving on to object interaction. Scattered all around the park are levers, buttons, machines, etc. Most of the time, interacting with one of these will show a cutscene of Crash getting killed somehow. This is called a Die-O-Rama. There aren't lives in this game, so no need to be Johnny Live-a-lot. Instead, bump into whatever you find, without worrying about the consequences. Perhaps you'll spin around and hit a tree, making it fall on you, or maybe you'll miss a jump and land on the water, which results in getting eaten by sharks. Each cutscene you unlock will be available at the main menu for you to watch at your leisure. Some of them are quite funny, while others are extremely predictable and uncreative. Overall, you can never get enough of Crash getting eaten, sliced, exploded or getting killed by whatever lurks in the way. It's also worth mentioning that you can unlock special shortcuts on certain tracks by exploring the park, as well as certain gags that are, sadly, unfunny.

It's time to move on to the actual racing. Sometimes you might forget that Crash Tag Team Racing actually has racing, because of all the stuff you can do outside the tracks. This is good, because the game manages to live up to its title and go beyond that point.
The racing is completely different from previous games in the series, mostly because this isn't kart racing. It controls like a normal car racing game -or would, if it weren't for the goofy weapons and stuff. If you're wondering why it's called Tag Team Racing, that's because of a feature called Clashing. You can make your vehicle enter Clash mode, making it turn transparent-blue. If you approach any normal car in this state, you will Clash (fuse) with it, creating a devastating vehicle complete with 2 rotating turrets. Each character has his/her own special turret, but you can change between yours and the clashee's at any time. You just need to worry about the shooting, because the other character will drive for you, and the AI in this game is excellent. In case you don't like to shoot, you can switch seats and do the driving with the push of a button. Don't worry, because the characters behave just as well on the turret as on the steering wheel. If you run out of ammo, or if you're just fed up with your partner, you can unclash at anytime. The AI characters can Clash with you too, but they won't get in your way, since they'll be the shooters by default (you can also refuse the clashing if you're not up to it). In case you're clashed when the race ends, both you and your partner come in the same place, so no worries about that either. Be careful though- whoever unclashes first pushes out ahead. The CPU may be sneaky at times, unclashing right before the finish line. Play your cards right and out-sneak them.

If you can't get enough of gameplay on the wheels, you ought to try the arenas. There are 2 types of these: Battle and Stunt. The Battle arenas are pretty self-explanatory- you drive around in a closed arena and try to get as many KO's as possible, in a permanently clashed car. These aren't really all that fun though, and you probably won't be replaying them after you've acquired their prizes. The Stunt arenas, on the other hand, are much more fun to play and re-play. In them, you perform mid-air tricks and flips with your own car to add points to the tally and gain boost. Just try to land on all 4 wheels, or it won't count.

Amazingly, there is still an aspect not yet discussed: mini-games. This "racing game" has races, platforming segments and mini-games. That's a pretty good variety right there. Like tracks, mini-games are unlocked by exploring, but you can then access any of them at any race or mini-game point. Mini-games are mostly about shooting stuff, like farm animals or underwater mines, and they're fun for a break. The most interesting ones are the bowling mini-games, which come complete with various layouts that range from simple to wicked, with holes, obstacles, etc.

Throughout the game, unlockables are abundant and varied, with special recognition to the unlockable cars (3 for each character, making up for a grand total of 24 different cars). There are 5 hubs (platforming levels) to explore, 15 race tracks, 2 Stunt arenas and 2 Battle arenas. Look also for new costumes, one for each character (except for Crash, who has lots of them).

The graphics are nice, with bucket-loads of animations for each character. The music, though not as brilliant as Twinsanity's soundtrack, still manages to be very good and entertaining. Spiralmouth returns to co-perform with Marc Baril's instrumental orchestra. Despite that, the music just isn't as memorable as in Twinsanity, and some themes can get quite annoying. 

We've gone through the good aspects of the game, so let's move on to its flaws. The story mode is way too easy to complete, for one. Most of the time you'll find yourself with more than enough Crystals to progress through, unless you're a big spender. Even then, it's easy to gather the necessary amount.

Secondly, the game doesn't feel like a Crash game at all. Replace the Crash characters with some random and unrelated ones, and the result is the same (actually, this game would have worked better if it wasn't related to Crash). The environments and pick-ups aren't Crash-themed (not even Wumpa Fruits are present), some characters look off and practically everybody acts completely out-of-character, many times out of forced jokes and parodies. This aspect might throw you off the game if you seek a Crash game that lives up to its name, but if this doesn't bother you, there is some very solid entertainment to be found in this title.

Character Moves:
Crash Bandicoot (on-foot)
Jump [PS2: X / GC: A / Xbox: A]- Crash jumps in the air. Press the jump button twice for an extended jump, with double the height and hang time.

Spin Attack [PS2: Square / GC: B / Xbox: X]- Press the spin button to make Crash spin, enabling him to break things and attack. Tap the spin button repeatedly to keep spinning.

Belly Flop [PS2: X + Square / GC: A + X / Xbox: A + B]- Jump and press the slam button to make Crash perform a Belly Flop. It's useful against Ninja Penguins and for activating switches.

Speak/Interact [PS2: Triangle / GC: Y / Xbox: ]- Crash can speak to people or activate gags and machinery. Look for floating interaction marks and press the corresponding button.

Race controls:
Driver
Accelerate [PS2: X / GC: A / Xbox: A]: Hold the gas button to accelerate.
Brake/Reverse [PS2: Square / GC: B / Xbox: X]: Hold the brake button to stop, and keep holding it to reverse.
Powerslide: When turning, tap the brake button once and keep turning. Use powerslides to gain turbo points.
Use power-up [PS2: Circle / GC: X / Xbox: B]: To throw an item you've picked up, press the shoot button.
Clash/Unclash [PS2: Triangle / GC: Y / Xbox: Y]: Press the Clashing button to turn your car into a ghostly version of itself. It will automatically fuse with the nearest car. To cancel Clashing, press the same button (also works just before you merge with another car). To Unclash, use the same button again.
Change seats [PS2: R1 / GC: Z / Xbox: R]: If you're clashed, press the switch button to change seats with the gunner.

Gunner
Shoot [PS2: X / GC: A or R / Xbox: A]: Press the gas button to shoot.
Change turrets [PS2: Square / GC: B / Xbox: X]: To change to between your turret and the driver's, press the brake button.
Use power-up [PS2: Circle / GC: X / Xbox: B]: To use a one-hit KO you've picked up, press the shoot button.
Change seats [PS2: R1 / GC: Z / Xbox: R]: Press the switch button to change seats with the gunner.
Unclash [PS2: Triangle / GC: Y / Xbox: Y]: Press the Clashing button to separate your cars and go back to driving alone.

Power-Ups:
Normal Power-Ups

Chicken Bomb- Homes in on a nearby enemy and explodes in a flurry of feathers. Can be thrown forwards or backwards.
Monkey Dynamite- Sticks to cars and blows up, unless they bump into another car first. Can be thrown forwards or backwards (automatic backwards usage).
Fire Guy- Follows and explodes the race leader, can also slightly damage who it crosses. Can only be thrown forwards. It can be disabled if shot at.
Tracking Swarm Missile- This rare power-up fires a missile at every car on the track.

Clashed "One Shot KO" Power-Ups
Robot Dog- Chases cars and grabs them by the bumper to slow them down, then blows up.
Shark Missile- Homes in on locked targets and eats cars for lunch.
Piano/Submarine/Cow- Makes up for a lengthy and powerful explosion.

Racing Challenges:
Race- Normal Tag Team Racing.
Fast Lap- Drive for the best lap time.
Crashinator- Crash into as many obstacles as you can.
Run and Gun- Shoot at trackside objects.
Rolling Thunder- Shoot at moving cars.

Arena Challenges:
Battle- Battle it out in a permanently clashed car against other competitors, with unlimited ammo worth of Wumpa Gun.
Stunt- Perform mid-air tricks off ramps to earn points and fill up your boost meter.

Single Player Modes:
Enter the Park- This is story mode, where you control Crash Bandicoot throughout MotorWorld. You can enter any races and mini-games at your leisure, as long as you've unlocked them first. When entering a race, you can choose any of the characters and cars that you have unlocked.

Drive the Tracks- Self-explanatory title. You can choose any race tracks or arenas from a menu instead of walking around to find them, but the money and Crystals that you win will automatically be added to the main story mode.

Multiplayer Modes:
Note 1: the multiplayer campaign is independent of the single player modes, so everything will have to be bought at the Gift Shop with the money you've earned in the multiplayer modes.
Note 2: You can opt between Split Screen or LAN Play. With Split Screen, up to 4 players (2 in the Playstation 2) will be able to play in the same console and screen. With LAN play, you can link up to 8 consoles and TV sets.

Race- Play a multiplayer race.
Battle Arena- Play a multiplayer battle arena game.
Stunt Arena- Compete with another player for stunt points.
Grand Prix- Play a race series across three tracks of one of the park's divisions.
Gift Shop- Use the cash you've won to buy new cars and tracks for multiplayer mode.

Extras
Movie Gallery- Watch any of the story movies, gags, Die-O-Ramas or track shortcuts you've unlocked in Single Player Mode.
Credits- See who made and produced this game.
PS2 to PSP connection- link the PS2 to the PSP version of the game to unlock exclusive goodies for each console.